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Friday, January 10, 2014

Food Mule

Food Mule [ˈfuːd ˈmjuːl]Noun [c]A person who takes food products between countries: Her suitcase is full of food, she must be a food mule.This is the definition of me whenever I travel. It is pretty common knowledge that when I travel, one of the first things I want to visit is the city’s markets. There I usually window shop and pick up a few things to keep in my bag for snacks for travel. Before I leave whatever country I am in I usually buy a few foodie souvenirs to take back and enjoy at home.

Here are a few of the random things I have picked up over my travels:

Portugal: A bottle of Port and a bottle of cherry liquorBelgium: Chocolate (of course!)Poland: A bottle of Bison Grass Vodka and saltPalestine: Za’atar and Arabic coffeeItaly: (I literally wanted to buy everything I saw, but we flew Ryanair. ) Orzo, Farro, and Spinach pasta.Austria: Salt

I try to buy something special from every country I visit. It is always nice to cook with a little reminder of your travels.

My most recent trip was to Colorado (my home state!) Since I went home for Christmas I had to bring back food presents for everyone. Whenever I send a package to my parents I include some Spanish saffron and, if I can find them, pine nuts from Spain. So shopping for their Christmas present was very easy! Rice from Valencia, Saffron from Spain and a real Paella pan! My cousin got some saffron as well.

My all time top food mule experience was leaving the US. I had some friends ask me for candy from the US. I am also addicted to Reese's so I had to load up on those as well. Also included was some instant yeast, cream of tartar, maple sugar, candy canes for my adult students and BBQ rub. I was very lucky this time that I didn’t have much clothes to take back! What’s your favorite thing to buy when traveling??